Joan Esposito (Full Episodes)
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Here are full episodes of "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" (weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT Chicago), a topical and interactive talk show from Chicago that focuses on national, state and city politics.
A veteran Chicago broadcaster, Joan talks to politicians and professors, activists and authors, candidates and correspondents, as well as listeners who call in to share their views on the news of the day. Her goal is to Edify, Entertain and Elect — Democrats, of course.
Joan Esposito has hosted WCPT's afternoon show since 2019. Prior to that she spent 20 years as a Chicago television anchor and reporter for WGN Channel 9, ABC7 and NBC5, and had a stint as managing partner at media trainer J2SC. Joan is a long-time member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).
Location:
United States
Description:
Here are full episodes of "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" (weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT Chicago), a topical and interactive talk show from Chicago that focuses on national, state and city politics. A veteran Chicago broadcaster, Joan talks to politicians and professors, activists and authors, candidates and correspondents, as well as listeners who call in to share their views on the news of the day. Her goal is to Edify, Entertain and Elect — Democrats, of course. Joan Esposito has hosted WCPT's afternoon show since 2019. Prior to that she spent 20 years as a Chicago television anchor and reporter for WGN Channel 9, ABC7 and NBC5, and had a stint as managing partner at media trainer J2SC. Joan is a long-time member of the Screen Actors Guild and the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists (SAG-AFTRA).
Language:
English
Episodes
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive, January 5, 2026
1/5/2026
On today's show:
– Chris Bury, senior journalist-in-residence at DePaul University
– Amanda Marcotte, senior writer at Salon.com
Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:24:47
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive guest host John St. Augustine January 2 2026
1/2/2026
On today's show:
– Julie Murphy, author of “The Emotion Behind Money: Building Wealth from the Inside Out”
– Michele Phillips, author of the new book “Energize Your Happiness”
– Nick Digilio, award-winning film critic, podcaster, and the author of the new book “40 Years, 40 Films”
– Jen Weigel, Chicago radio and television personality
– Plus, John plays a 2002 interview he did with Christopher Reeve
Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive)..
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:34:06
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive guest host Turi Eyder December 31 2025
12/31/2025
On today's show:
Turi Ryder fills in for Joan and her guests are
– Kendall Scudder, chair of the Texas Democratic Party
– David Levine, professor of law, UC Law San Francisco
– Valerie Geller, president of Geller Media International, a broadcast consulting firm that trains broadcasters and podcasters throughout the world
– Ronit Bezalel. award-winning documentary filmmaker, photographer, and writer
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:35:18
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive guest host Ed Yohnka December 30 2025
12/30/2025
Tue 12/30
Ed Yohnka fills in for Joan and his guests are
– Peter Shane, the Jacob E. Davis and Jacob E. Davis II Chair in Law Emeritus at the Ohio State University’s Moritz College of Law, and distinguished scholar in residence at NYU School of Law; his latest piece for Washington Monthly is “How the Roberts Court Indulges Trump’s Constitutional Workarounds”
– Ron Glasgow, CFP, founder of Glasgow Investment Solutions
– U.S. Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL)
– Gregory Royal Pratt, Chicago Tribune investigative reporter; he and other Tribune reporters recently published the article 64 days in Chicago: The story of Operation Midway Blitz
– Khadine Bennett, director of Advocacy and Intergovernmental Affairs with the ACLU of Illinois
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:30:57
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive guest host William Muck December 29 2025
12/29/2025
Mon 12/29
William Muck fills in for Joan and his guests are
– Ali Breland, staff writer at The Atlantic; he will talk about his recent series of articles on Nick Fuentes
– Kevin Schultz, professor of history at UIC and author of “Why Everyone Hates White Liberals (Including White Liberals): A History
– Former Illinois Congressman Dan Lipinski; he is currently Distinguished Visiting Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University and Pope Leo XIII Fellow on Social Thought at the University of Dallas
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:26:45
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive guest host John St. Augustine December 26 2025
12/26/2025
On today's show:
John St. Augustine fills in for Joan and his guests are
– Patricia Guzak, author of Tuxedo Man Adventures
– Candace Jordan, media personality, Crain’s Chicago Business columnist, associate publisher of Chicago Star Media, host of “Candid Candace: The Podcast”
– David S. Brown, author of the 2025 book “In the Arena: Theodore Roosevelt in War, Peace, and Revolution”
– Thom Hartmann (a conversation John and Thom recorded in 2000)
Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:37:17
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive guest host Turi Ryder December 24 2025
12/24/2025
On today's show:
Turi Ryder fills in for Joan and her guests include
– Jane Banser, founder at The Etiquette School of Chicago
– Mort Meisner, TV and radio agent and media consultant, who talks about censorship at CBS News
– Sabrina Shapiro, mental performance specialist and coach
– David Cerda, playwright and artistic director of Hell in a Handbag Productions, talking about “The Real Housewives of the North Pole”
– Sarah Zimmerman, labor consultant and volunteer for the National Immigration Justice Center
Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:30:55
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive guest host Jill Wine-Banks December 23 2025
12/23/2025
Tue 12/23
Jill Wine-Banks fills in for Joan and her guests are
– Civia Tamarkin, award-winning investigative journalist, documentary filmmaker and former television news executive
– Billy Ray, screenwriter and film director
– Daniel Biss, mayor of Evanston and candidate for Congress
– Terry Savage, syndicated personal finance columnist and author
– Maureen Surin, medical cannabis advocate, along with Alice Peterson, president of Kentucky Heritage Hemp Company
– David Greising, president and chief executive of the Better Government Association
– Dean Obeidallah, lawyer, comedian, journalist, and host of “The Dean Obeidallah Show” on SiriusXM Progress
– Victor Shi, speaker, organizer, activist, podcast co-host
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:29:28
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive guest host William Muck December 22 2025
12/22/2025
Mon 12/22
William Muck fills in for Joan and his guests are
– Michael Scherer, staff writer at The Atlantic; his latest piece is “Why Is Robert F. Kennedy Jr. So Convinced He’s Right?”
– Abdullah Al-Bahrani, associate professor of Accounting and Economics at Northern Kentucky University
– Phil Barker, professor of political science and director of the honors program at Keene State College, and co-host of The Politics Lab podcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:27:08
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive December 19 2025
12/19/2025
On today's show:
– Chris Fitzsimon, host of the Stories from the States podcast
– “Out Chicago” host Scott Duff and film critic Rebecca Ford
Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:27:10
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive December 18 2025
12/18/2025
On today's show:
– Eric Zorn, writer-publisher of The Picayune Sentinel
– Our Pet of the Month segment with Craig Botagowski of Mark Drugs and Darlene Duggan, head of Anticruelty
– Heartland Signal’s Rich Eberwein with three stories you might have missed from our digital newsroom
Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:30:34
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive December 17 2025
12/17/2025
On today's show:
– Rep. Jonathan Jackson (D-IL)
– George D. Strickland, recently retired Lake County associate judge for the Nineteenth Judicial Circuit Court of Lake County
– Dr. Stockton Mayer, infectious disease physician at UI Health
– Spencer Critchley, author of Patriots of Two Nations and host of the Dastardly Cleverness in the Service of Good podcast
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:29:38
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive December 16 2025
12/16/2025
Tue 12/16
– Jeet Heer, national affairs correspondent for The Nation and host of the weekly Nation podcast, “The Time of Monsters”
– Nick Blumberg, correspondent at WTTW News
– Sen. Tammy Duckworth (D-IL)
– Casey Toner, Illinois Answers reporter at the Better Government Association
– Oren Jacobson, executive director and co-founder of Men4Choice.org, which “exists to activate, educate, and mobilize male allies into the fight” for reproductive freedom “as active partners and allies.”
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:25:33
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive December 15 2025
12/15/2025
Mon 12/15
– Chris Bury, senior journalist-in-residence, DePaul University
– James Stroud, a statistician at FEMA currently on administrative leave; he has gone public with his opposition to the Trump administration’s wide-ranging effort to obstruct FEMA’s work and recently signed the FEMA Katrina Declaration
– Lindsay Nichols, policy director at Giffords Law Center
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:22:32
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive, December 12, 2025
12/12/2025
On today's show:
– Chris Fitzsimon, host of the Stories from the States podcast
– Adam Abrams, spokesperson for Keep Americans Covered, former communications aide to President Barack Obama and a White House spokesman during the passage of the Affordable Care Act
– David Orr, former Cook County clerk and Chicago alderman and founder of Good Government Illinois
Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:27:21
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive, December 11, 2025
12/11/2025
On today's show:
– Bruce Rheins, former CBS Los Angeles deputy bureau chief
– Rep. Mike Quigley (D-IL)
– Abby Vesoulis, national politics reporter at Mother Jones
– Heartland Signal’s Rich Eberwein with three stories you might have missed from our digital newsroom
– Joe Fontana, founder of Fry the Coop
Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:22:39
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive, December 10, 2025
12/10/2025
On today's show:
– David Layman, former Providence, Rhode Island, news anchor, managing editor, and political commentator for RIPBS
– Aaron Kleinman, head of research at Heartland Signal
– Joel Ostrow, professor of political science at Benedictine University
Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:27:23
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive December 9 2025
12/9/2025
Tue 12/9
– Mike Nellis, Democratic strategist and host of “Endless Urgency with Mike Nellis
– Rep. Sean Casten (D-IL)
– Marjorie Hershey, professor emeritus, political science at Indiana University Bloomington
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:17:08
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive December 8 2025
12/8/2025
Mon 12/8
– Army Maj. Gen. Randy Manner (Ret.), former acting vice chair of the National Guard Bureau, and member of National Security Leaders for America (NSL4A)
– Texas State Rep. Trey Martinez-Fischer (D)
– David Hochberg, vice president of lending for Team Hochberg at Homeside Financial
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:25:04
Joan Esposito Live Local & Progressive guest host Turi Ryder December 5 2025
12/5/2025
On today's show:
Turi Ryder fills in for Joan and her guests are:
– Car Guy Tom Appel, host of the Consumer Guide Car Stuff podcast
– Wendy Lobel, producer-director of “Anxiety Club,” a “heartfelt and humorous exploration of anxiety through the lens of some of today’s most brilliant comedians”
– Eleanor Ray, founder and executive director of The WasteShed, a nonprofit creative reuse organization dedicated to giving new life to art supplies and promoting sustainability
– Robert Held, Chicago attorney recently detained by ICE but not charged with a crime; he is traveling to New Orleans to protest ICE actions in that city
– Samuel Cole, chief immigration litigation counsel at ACLU of Illinois
Catch "Joan Esposito: Live, Local and Progressive" weekdays from 2:00 to 5:00 p.m. Central on WCPT (heartlandsignal.com/programs/live-local-progressive).
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Duration:02:35:05